Monistrol de Montserrat, getting self-organized to overcoming the shadows of the Mountain

Monistrol de Monserrat is a town located in the outer Barcelona metropolitan region, with about 3.000 inhabitants. Traditionally, Monistrol was a town with strong industrial activity in the textile sector, but it suffered from deep economic re-structuring and its remaining industrial activity has since moved towards the residual sector. Today, local economy and employment is mostly based today on the tertiary sector, constituting a residential economy, to a higher extent. Currently, it suffers from lower living conditions, an aging population, old fashioned retails, aging housing stock, rigorous local landscape and climate, low attractiveness for young people, and other things.

But one of this municipalities distinguished features is the presence of the Montserrat Mountain and monastery, which is now perceived as an opportunity for social and economic development of the town through the development of tourism. With this in mind, in 2008-2009, the Monistrol town council promoted a Local Strategic Plan, Monistrol 2020, which aims to foster local economies and develop endogenous potentials to overcome spatial injustice, while increasing local self-esteem and fostering positive dynamics.

A decade after the implementation of the action, the analysis of this case study discovered that Monistrol appears to be physically more attractive, relatively more dynamic, and working towards being more regionally recognized. Although civic structures created during the elaboration of the Plan did not have a continuation after the finalisation of the plan; neither for monitoring action plan implementation, nor for continuing midterm activities of strategic thinking and forward thinking.